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Hour 120-144 | Your Perspective

Let's talk about you for a moment. After all, you are the storyteller here. And the way you look at the world is the way we will be looking at the world in your story. So, let's take a day to talk about your perspective on the world.

Today we look at perspective.​MY STORY -

The goal of today is to remind you that you already are a storyteller. It's something we do naturally, and start doing as children.

To kick things off, let's look at how we first start telling our own stories.

Out in the front yard of my childhood house was where me and my siblings were first making up stories or playing like we are making TV shows. We were making up whole worlds. From then on my brothers and I started drawing our own comic books and drawing comics in our math books...good times.

What I did is I would take a drawing of a super hero that was in a comic book and I would trace it, and then I would draw a new "superhero suit" on them, and I did this thing called Yellow Jacket Comics. Somewhere in my house there are thousands and thousands and thousands of these drawings of Yellow Jacket Comics I traced from Spider-Man books.

When I got older these were these poster assignments in high school, and even in junior high school as well, they were always around a theme of American history. The idea of this kinda of homework was to put history in a visual form. And it was kind of the first avenue into telling stories in just one picture I had ever experienced.

Later I took an art class. I would draw pictures and I would show them to people and they would react, and I'd really like that. I'd love getting reactions out of people with the things that I drew and the stories that I told.

Now, I do have to say, growing up I felt like I had no ideas, like I was just the most unoriginal artist. I always felt like artists had to have these kinda waterfalls of ideas, endless amounts of ideas, and some times I felt like I had zero. So I started getting most of my stories and my ideas from my life. However, I would add in dragons and the like.

When I go to write a story I think about a lot of stuff happened to me, like when was the last time I was happy? When was the last time I felt really sad? When was the last time I cried or got really angry? Most of my stories originate from my own personal experiences, and I think there's a touchstone there that is very important to the storyteller to find because it makes us honest.

I don't just gathering all kinds of ideas and chucking them together and then magically there's a story. No, it does not happen like that. No story comes ready made. I have to think long and hard about my experiences in life and moments where I had what I kind of consider to be an epiphany. A moment when I gained some sort of insight or learned something that I think is really important to share with the world. And I start with that experience from my life and build the story from there. Like with the first Fatherlander book, I took an experience where I learned about being unworthy of love and translated it into an action adventure story.

I think those are the kind of stories that are really fun because they only can come from you and your experience. Nobody else can have the same insights as you because they haven't lived the same life as you. No two people will experience life the same, so no two people will tell a story the same way. Think of this as a superpower we all have, your unique perspective. Only you see the world this way.

Now I want you to think about a memory you have. It can be your most embarrassing memory, a frightening memory, or a time you were very surprised. Whatever it is, it's a memory you remember vividly. In this exercise you'll have a chance to express this memory in various ways.

Exercise 3: Expressing memories

Part A: Think of a memory that you remember vividly. It should be a memory that comes easily to you.

Part B: Why do you think you remember this so well? Try connecting one or more emotions to this memory.

Part C: Take your "what ifs" from yesterday and then try connecting one or more of them to this memory.

Part C: Now try and express your memory and emotion in some way. The goal is to get it out of your head. Here are some ideas for what you could do.

Verbally: Tell your memory to someone that you know. Can you make them feel the emotion?

Written: Write your memory in less than a page. Do the emotions come out in your words?

Visually: Express your memory using only lines and shapes. Do the emotions come out in your drawings?

You can submit your ideas in the Comments section below, or write them down in your story journal.

Worlds/Characters >

​S.C. TreeHouse is a company created by storytellers for the purpose of telling stories. No matter if it's a book, movie, TV show, YouTube channel, painting, radio drama, stage play, or simply parents entertaining their family, story is the most important part of all art and entertainment. It's what keeps us engaged; it's what inspires us, and ultimately, the story is what teaches us. After all, why do you think God taught in parables?